Increased prevalence of behavioral risks among adolescent and young adult women with psychological distress in the emergency department.

Background: Mental health problems in adolescents have been recognized as a significant medical concern. They have been associated with risk-taking behaviors during adolescence.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of elevated scores for psychological distress among adolescent girls aged 15 to 21 years who present to a pediatric emergency department (PED) for general medical care and to correlate psychological distress scores with sexual and substance use behaviors.

Patient and injury characteristics in abusive abdominal injuries.

Objective: To identify patient and injury characteristics associated with suspected child abuse in the setting of blunt abdominal trauma.

Patients: We extracted from the National Pediatric Trauma Registry phases 2 and 3 (October 1995 to April 2001; N = 106,135) all cases of blunt abdominal injury, excluding motor vehicle injuries, in patients aged 0 to 4 years.

Main Outcome Measures: Independent variables included age, mortality, nutritional status, and injury type.

Variation in the diagnosis of child abuse in severely injured infants.

Objective: Diagnosis of child abuse is difficult and may reflect patient, practitioner, and system factors. Previous studies have demonstrated potential lethal consequences if cases of abuse are missed and suggested a role for continuing medical education in improving the accuracy of diagnosis of suspected abuse. Although the majority of injured American children are treated at general hospitals, most published studies of severe injury resulting from child abuse have been conducted at children's hospitals.

Blunt abdominal injury in the young pediatric patient: child abuse and patient outcomes.

This study sought to evaluate injury causes and patient outcomes in young children with abdominal injuries. Cases of blunt abdominal injury (N = 927) to children ages 0 to 4 years were extracted from the National Pediatric Trauma Registry. Measures included hospital utilization (days hospitalized, intensive care unit use, and surgery) and patient outcome (in-hospital fatality, discharge to rehabilitation facility, home rehabilitation, and home nursing).